


sleep talking

by goldavn



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: College AU, M/M, winkbugi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-04-21 07:17:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14279799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldavn/pseuds/goldavn
Summary: jihoon is in a gaming team. though he’s never met them offline, they’re close enough that jihoon can gush about the cute TA for his literature class. jonghyun is a well-loved senior and TA, but really, he’s just a huge nerd.





	sleep talking

**Author's Note:**

> this is a part of jihoon's birthday fic fest called [starboy](https://twitter.com/starboy529) ! make sure to check out the collection and give the other author's and the mods a lot of love for organizing this. ♡
> 
> for reference;  
> jihoon - @jeojang  
> daniel - @kangpuppy  
> taehyung - @guccitae  
> chanyeol - @yeolfarm  
> jungkook - @guksupreme

Friday nights are never about clubbing or going to rowdy parties for Park Jihoon. Instead, he spends those nights online, playing games with his team until the very early hours of Saturday morning. Gaming never used to be a big hobby of his, but after the stress that came alongside attending college bit him in the arse, the only thing he could turn to for stress relief was his computer – in particular, the games that it has loaded onto it.

 

He had stumbled across his team members on one of the games online forums and it prompted the boys to form a group chat together. It then lead to them playing multiplayer games online together and talking to each other in their group chat every day. They are the epitome of online friends – best friends – and hence meaning that they have never even met each other offline. Regardless of that, Jihoon trusted them, he trusted them that much that he finally started talking about his crush one night while they were playing a game of World of Warcraft.

 

| **@jeojang:**

| _but for real guys, my ta is cutest guy I’ve ever laid eyes on_

 

| **@guksupreme:**

| _pics or it didn’t happen man_

 

| **@kangpuppy:**

| _do u know his name? ofc u know his name hes ur TA lmao_

 

| **@jeojang:**

| _im not telling u guys his name that would b like, invasion of privacy_

 

| **@yeolfarm:**

| _you mean ur privacy_

 

| **@jeojang:**

| _ANYWAYS, like everyone loves him and he is a senior and literally everyone loves him_

| **@guccitae:**

| _I refuse to believe that someone is possibly more loved than me_

| **@jeojang:**

| _idk tae, he might give u a run for ur money lol_

| **@kangpuppy:**

| _and ur really not gonna tell us his name_

| **@jeojang:**

| _not yet lol, anyway gtg guys im fuking tired_

| **@yeolfarm** _:_

| _laters lover boi!_

| ** _*@jeojang is now offline*_**

 

Jihoon really doesn’t know what came over him for him to suddenly bring up Jonghyun, but for as far as Jihoon is aware, none of the others knew _who_ he was. For his own sanity and privacy, Jihoon wants to _keep_ it that way.

 

☽☾

 

Jihoon, as a creature of habit, has set himself up at the local café near his dorm room. He was getting sick of the stuffy, confined space and his favorite coffee shop seemed like the next best option. He decided that it was about time for his third coffee of the day, and he knows that the barista behind the counter doesn’t mind one bit (the perks of having a friend who is also a star barista). What he didn’t expect when he was lining up was to run into his crush - Kim Jonghyun. He’s wearing an adorable white, fluffy turtleneck and he is wearing those circle glasses he always does in class. Instead of his usual bowl cut, his hair is wavy and parted in the middle, and it makes Jihoon’s heart flutter.

 

“Oh, hey! Jihoon, right?” Jonghyun accompanies his greeting with a small wave as he lines up behind the younger student. Jihoon greets him back, but on the inside his mind has gone blank and he has no clue what to say next. Thankfully, Jonghyun takes the lead as they move down the line.

 

“How did you find class this week?”

 

“It was good! I really like Stephen King so I felt really-” he gulps, “-in my element.”

 

Jonghyun chuckles as Jihoon blushes, the aftermath of almost geeking out on him. “You’re a big Stephen fan?”

 

“Of course! I’ve watched all of the film adaptions that are Netflix so far and surprised that I wasn’t disappointed,” Jihoon says.

 

“I agree. Most of the time film adaptions are never as good as the books.” They continue to move down the line and Jonghyun continues to talk to Jihoon. “There’s just something about written words that hold so much more meaning, as if we have more room for interpretation,” Jonghyun scratches his neck as they continue to move, Jihoon silently eating up the attention.

 

“I totally agree. It’s more…”

 

“Raw?” Jonghyun finishes his sentence and Jihoon smiles. Jihoon thinks he’s too good to be true. _Could this guy get any better?_

 

“Yeah…”

 

Jihoon is so caught up on him that he doesn’t notice it’s his turn to order, and an amused Woojin is behind the counter, smirking.

 

“Hey Jihoon, when you’re done talking with this handsome guy, let me know,” Woojin says. Jihoon turns around and sends the barista the death stare of all death stares and turns back around to Jonghyun, “Excuse me.”

 

When he faces Woojin he still has that smirk on his face and Jihoon wants to reach out and wipe it off. “I. Hate. You,” Jihoon whispers - making sure his words are out of Jonghyun’s earshot.

 

“But you still love me anyway,” Woojin whispers back.

 

“Please just shut up.” Jihoon doesn’t know how much further he is going to have to make it clear for him to just drop it.

 

“Fine. What is it then? Another Mocha with extra chocolate powder _and_ marshmallows?”

 

Jihoon nods his head. “Sure.” Woojin punches in the order and looks past Jihoon, “And what about Jihoon’s friend?” Jonghyun’s head pops up from looking at his phone in bewilderment.

 

“Me?”

 

“Yeah, you. What do you want? it’s on the house,” Woojin flashes him his signature grin, one that’s always accompanied by his snaggletooth. Jonghyun looks to Jihoon, and Jihoon nods apprehensively, telling him to go ahead.

 

“Can I have a long black? With one sweetener?”

 

“Coming right up! You guys take a seat and I’ll bring it over to you.” Jihoon is already walking back to his spot and as he sits he’s surprised that Jonghyun had actually followed, sitting down in front of him. He glances over to Woojin who is staring at them, still smirking, and he even starts making gestures for Jihoon to use this opportunity that Woojin had given him. Jihoon didn’t fucking ask for his help, but since he is here he may as well make the most of it.

 

“So, you’re studying today?” Jonghyun asks. He peers over Jihoon’s open notepad, at the doodles and scribbled notes that are written on the paper.

 

“Yup, it’s actually your fault I’m having to study this hard today,” Jihoon jokes. Jonghyun fakes surprise and lets out a small laugh. “Is the essay too long? Should I have set a shorter word count?”

 

Jihoon pauses before he replies, picking up his pen. “It’s not that… I’m just struggling to figure out what essay topic to do because frankly none of them suit my style,” he says. He lets out a long sigh as Jonghyun turns the pages over to the essay questions, skimming over the work that _he_ had set for Jihoon and the rest of the students of the class.

 

“What about this one?” Jonghyun says, pointing to question five. _‘Analyse the theme of trauma and how we can apply Freud to the happenings in this novel.’_ To be honest, it is the only one Jihoon had even remotely been interested in, but he’s not that interested in researching pages of information about psychological theories. Jihoon chews on his pen and hums, “Mmm, I don’t know.”

 

“The questions are pretty bad, aren’t they?” Jonghyun asks, his face set in with disappointment. Jihoon is about to comfort him, tell him that they’re really not that bad when Woojin appears in his peripheral vision. He’s holding their coffees and still grinning like a Cheshire cat when he places them on the table in front of them.

 

“Here we are gentlemen, enjoy…” he even has the nerve to wink as he saunters away. _Just you wait_ Jihoon thinks, he’ll get revenge some way or another. Jonghyun, however, sends the barista the sweetest of smiles. He picks up his cup daintily and adjusts his glasses before taking a sip. His shoulders shrug upward from the warmth of the liquid, a small contented sigh slipping from his lips when placing it back on the table.

 

“Drink up,” Jonghyun says, picking up Jihoon’s cup to put in his hands. Jihoon takes it and sips at the coffee – thankfully Woojin hasn’t been a devil child and put salt instead of sugar like he’d done once before when Jihoon had come in on a date. It resulted in Jihoon spitting the drink out on the boy he’d been with, and respectively the boy had left and Jihoon never saw him again. Jihoon remembers Woojin telling him it was for his own good and the boy had been too prissy for Jihoon and it makes him wonder why he hadn’t done the same this time. Not to say Jonghyun was his date, but maybe there is a chance that it would seem that way.

 

“If you need any more help with it I could tutor you?” he suggests. Jihoon probably shouldn’t take the offer considering his crush but he pushes angel Jihoon to the side and listens to the devil Jihoon that sits on the other shoulder.

 

“How about tomorrow night?” Jihoon asks. Jonghyun agrees and suggests they use one of the study rooms. Jihoon wanted to book one himself but Jonghyun insisted for him not to worry, that he’d sort it out. They finished their coffees and Jihoon complained about the essay and Jonghyun eventually left.

 

_Talk about a hell of a day._

 

☽☾

 

 

Later that night Jihoon found himself glued to his computer screen, engaged in a game of _Fortnite_ with his team. Jihoon was just about to make the perfect kill when Daniel aka ‘kangpuppy’ as he goes by online, decides to ask if Jihoon had seen his dreamy teacher’s assistant lately. It resulted in Jihoon getting so flustered that his fingers stumbled over the controller, his opponent getting the best of him and losing the game.

 

“Why? So you lot can tease me some more?” Jihoon curses. He has to wait until everyone in the game dies until they can all start a new round, and he has no clue when that would be. He lounges back on his gaming chair and rugs a blanket over the top of himself, getting ready to gush but only because someone asked.

 

“As a matter of fact, yes. We had coffee together.” Jihoon’s ears are filled with a mixture of cackling and wolf whistles as the boys react to the news. He can’t tell which one of them he hears them the most because they equally drown each other out.

 

_“What!”_

_“How’d you manage that?”_

_“Isn’t that illegal?”_

 

“Yes, it is legal and he’s going to tutor me tomorrow.” Jihoon earns another round of loud noise through his headset. The boys were excited and he was happy, he’s lucky to have friends like this to gush over his crush to or with.

 

 _“You better get some beauty rest then,”_ Taehyung mumbles through the headset. Jihoon says his goodbyes to his team and logs off his PlayStation for the night. He crawls into bed and underneath the covers where all he can do is think about tomorrow.

 

And Jonghyun.

 

☽☾

 

 

After a restless night’s sleep, and way too many energy drinks throughout the day to keep him afloat, it was finally time to meet Jonghyun. He had to climb the stairs to one of the highest floors of the library and by the time he reached the top he felt like collapsing into a little ball and sleep. He had to search for the study room but when he found it he saw Jonghyun already seated, wearing those damn circle glasses a usual. Jihoon thinks it’s one of his weaknesses because it just makes him look so _pure_. He spots Jihoon through the glass and waves. Jihoon waves back before he opens the door to the room and can properly greet him.

 

“Hey,” he says out of breath.

 

“Hey, quite the climb, right?” Jonghyun muses. Jihoon nods shyly as he pulls out his chair next to him. He only brought the novel and his notepad with him, not really knowing the extent of their tutoring session. Jonghyun, however, has a rucksack against the table that looks like it’s overflowing with things.

 

“Tell me about it. Did you have a busy day?” Jihoon asks him.

 

Jonghyun shrugs, “I guess. Our class was the only thing I had to do today so I spent most of the day studying.”

 

“You mean you waited here the whole day, just to tutor?”

 

Another shrug, “Well I said I would and I’m not one to stray from my word.”

 

Jihoon smiles, and so does Jonghyun. “Thank you,” Jihoon opens the notebook to the essay question where he had circled number five. “Shall we?”

 

Jonghyun starts giving him a rundown of the theories they had gone over in class and to be honest most of them go over his head the first time. Jonghyun notices because Jihoon’s eyes glaze over and he looks like he is minutes off falling asleep.

 

“Earth to Jihoon,” Jonghyun sings. He tries to snap himself back into reality but his eyes are not the most willing. “Is it okay if we take a break?” he asks. Jonghyun chuckles and nods, pulling his phone out. Jihoon does the same and opens up the chat for his team. Jonghyun happens to look over when he pulls up the stats screenshots Chanyeol had sent from one of the many game’s last night.

 

“Oh my god! You play too!?” Jonghyun basically squeals and Jihoon has to maintain his composure because the sight is nothing short of heart fluttering. He nods furiously and Jonghyun motions to his phone.

 

“What rank?”

 

“…Diamond.” Jonghyun looks at Jihoon in amazement. He never thought somewhat could look that surprised over a video game ranking.

 

“I’ve only started playing recently and still stuck silver. I’m more of a Warcraft guy.” Jonghyun seems to be poking his head out from under a shell, because it’s nothing he expected from the supposed non-nerdy Jonghyun every talks about. Everyone knows him because he’s one of the most popular seniors but it turns out, that really, he is just a closeted nerd.

 

“What’s your ID? I can add you.” Jonghyun gives it to Jihoon and accepts his friend request. Jihoon thinks it’s all a bit surreal, to think that this seems to be leading to something more than just tutoring. Suddenly, Jonghyun clears his throat and taps at the paper in front of them.

 

“As much as I’d love to talk about games, you still have an essay to write.” His voice is soft, tainted with playfulness and Jihoon kind of wants to faint. He gulps, picks up his pen and nods. They try to write a simple essay plan but Jihoon can’t focus, with what little sleep he head last night and the new knowledge of his crush it would be impossible to think of studying right now. It’s how he finds himself slipping off to sleep when his head gradually falls against the table. Jonghyun is surprised but decides it would be better to just let him sleep.

 

Everything is all well and good until half an hour later when Jonghyun thinks he can hear noises behind the audio coming out of his headphones. He pulls them and looks to his side, to find Jihoon aimlessly talking in his sleep.

 

_“So cute.”_

_“Why now?”_

_“Hey, don’t talk about him like that.”_

 

It’s a sight to see and to save his privacy, he decides it would be best to gently wake Jihoon up. He places a hand on Jihoon’s shoulder and gently rubs it, coaxing the younger male to come out of his sleep. Jihoon is dazed but can make out that he is still in the study room, and more or less dazed and confused.

 

"My mouth's so dry..."

 

"I think because you were talking in your sleep," Jonghyun laughs. He hands Jihoon a tissue to dab away any drool and Jihoon gladly takes it from him. "What... did i say?"

 

"...That someone's cute? It sounded like a conversation." Jihoon is embarrassed, because that someone is Jonghyun. But thankfully, his mouth kept quiet enough so that he didn't expose his hidden crush.

 

"Jihoon."

 

Jonghyun looks back to Jonghyun. _God, he really is so cute._

 

"Shall we go somewhere else? An internet cafe?" Jonghyun seems shy, probably by the way his sleeves covered everything but his fingernails in the moment. His hands were on his cheeks and Jihoon could see a tinge of pink poking over them.

 

"What about tutoring?" Jihoon asks. Jonghyun picks his things up for him and places them in his lap.

 

"I think we've done enough tutoring for the day. Don't you?"

 

Jihoon nods and Jonghyun grins, the two of them quickly packing their things up. "I assume you want to play right?" Jihoon asks him as they walk down the library stairs. Jonghyun nods and bumps Jihoon's shoulder softly. "Of course."

 

"Well, what should we do if I beat you then?" Jihoon asks.

 

"Let me buy you dinner?" Jihoon can't believe his eyes nor his ears, he can't believe that his crush has offered to buy him dinner. This means that he has to win, no matter what. When else would he get an opportunity like the one before him? He knows that whatever happens he will go home and gush to his team members like normal, except he has a feeling that tomorrow will be far from normal. Not when _something_ is happening right before his own eyes.

 

"Well then Jonghyun, you're on."

 

**Author's Note:**

> you can reach me here at my [twitter](https://twitter.com/goldavnao3) ♡


End file.
